February 2010
La Cieca and her panel of experts were overwhelmed at the level of sheer lexicological cleverness exhibited by so many of the cher public in our More than words can say competition. Of the many brilliant responses, the judges have managed to choose an overall winner (who will receive the promised gift pack) plus several…
She Who Has More Sobriquets Than Changes of Facial Expression continues her second half-century.
A brace of profiles in the March issue of Opera News engage the reader in a fascinating game of “the same, but different.” Simon Keenlyside and Paulo Szot are both baritones; both handsome, sexy men; and they’re both adept in classical and more modern musical theater forms. Both gentlemen are starring in new productions at…
It’s that time of week once again, cher public, the Saturday afternoon chat accompanying the Met’s matinee broadcast. The topic of today’s colloquy? Why, it’s La Fille du Régiment beginning at 1:00 PM!
The Mexican soprano is 70 years old today.
I checked back in on the Met’s revival of Ariadne auf Naxos yesterday, after a messy first night one week ago that left much to the imagination. Tenor Lance Ryan had been sick that night, and the cover who took his place was not much healthier, throwing the whole cast into a panic mode that…
UPDATE: A press release has just gone out announcing “The Metropolitan Opera and the English National Opera (ENO) will co-produce a world premiere production of composer Nico Muhly’s first opera.
La Cieca hears that the planned Decca recording of Giulio Cesare, to be based upon live concert performances this week in Paris, has been canceled.
“People approach me now and say things like, ‘We loved your hair last week, but the jacket the week before was even better’.” [Wicked Local Norwell]
This one’s not a quiz, because the concept is so elegantly obvious: Das Rheingold as an episode of Baywatch, with the Nibelung’s anvils replaced by a handier set of percussion instruments.
The legendary Russian mezzo-soprano has died after a brief illness. She was 85.
Rumor has it the NYT will do at least five full-time hires and bring in another half-dozen or so dedicated freelancers to provide in-depth coverage of the artistic event of of the decade: next summer, Leon Botstein conducts Franz Schreker. [Bard Summerscape]
“To Kettles Yard in Cambridge for the premiere of a new song cycle by Richard Baker, performed by baritone Christopher Purves and pianist Andrew West. Having started off in Harvey and the Wallbangers, Purves is now a rising British operatic star: he will sing Beckmesser at Welsh National Opera alongside Bryn Terfel in Die Meistersinger…
The arts journalist La Cieca would like be when she grows up, Zachary Woolfe, continues his analysis of Peter Gelb‘s Met tenure — now all the more interesting since Joe Volpe has returned to the fold. [Observer]
Are you ready for a competition, cher public? Well, get ready to don your lexicographer’s caps, because this one is all about the words.
La Cieca’s old, old, old friend Dorothy Bishop has revived and revised her hilarious Sarah Palin show, now entitled “A Sarah Palin Presidents’ Day Spectacular,” Thursdays in February beginning the 11th at NYC’s Cafe Iguana.
UPDATE: A spokesman for Anna Netrebko just has informed La Cieca “Anna is not pregnant.” An Austrian website thie morning reported the rumor that Anna Netrebko is expecting again. [OE24.at]
Like Liza Minnelli at the Palace or Nomi Malone in Goddess, Renée Fleming‘s Thaïs is better understood as diva event than Gesamtkunstwerk. It’s an opportunity to watch a star lady do her voodoo in a work that exists largely to showcase her glamour and appeal.
“A German, a Peruvian and a Kiwi walk into an American theater and start speaking French: that sounds like the premise of a joke, right?” Our Own JJ reviews La fille du régiment at the Met.
Congratulations LogeLizard for so adeptly pinpointing Manon Lescaut as the solution to our most recent Regie quiz. The production was by Graham Vick for the Teatro la Fenice, and we have a glimpse of this regie in action after the jump.
The 1990s never ended, it seems. Joe Volpe back at the Met, and his one-time sidekick Alberto Vilar back in the news. The Felonious Philanthropist, donor of abut $12 million to the Met during Volpe’s tenure, was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison for such charges as securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.…
La Cieca welcomes cher plebians and cher patricians alike to a chat during this afternoon’s Met broadcast of Simon Boccanegra. The performance begins at 1:00 PM.
La Cieca preens proudly to present a peerless pair of protégés (left to right) Squirrel and Maury D’Annato. The bromancers attended (or one should say “took in”) last night’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met, and as of early this afternoon they were still deconstructing.
Angela Gheorghiu will not sing Carmen at the Met this season. Says the diva: “To make so important a debut as Carmen, I want to be as prepared dramatically as I am musically. Therefore, I will postpone my role debut until a later date when I can work intensely with the Richard Eyre production.” Kate…
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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